Search results for ""crown""

Macrocyclic molecules contain rings made up of seven or more atoms. They are interesting because they provide building blocks for synthesizing precise two or three dimensional structures – an important goal in nanotechnology. For example, they can be used to develop nanosized reaction vessels, cages, switches and shuttles, and have potential as components in molecular computers. They also have applications as catalysts and sensors. Macrocycles: Construction, Chemistry and Nanotechnology Applications is an essential introduction this important class of molecules and describes how to synthesise them, their chemistry, how they can be used as nanotechnology building blocks, and their applications. A wide range of structures synthesised over the past few decades are covered, from the simpler cyclophanes and multi-ring aromatic structures to vases, bowls, cages and more complex multi-ring systems and 3D architectures such as “pumpkins”, interlocking chains and knots. Topics covered include: principles of macrocycle synthesis simple ring compounds multi-ring aromatic structures porphyrins and phthalocanines cyclophanes crown ethers, cryptands and spherands calixarenes, resorcinarenes, cavitands, carcerands, and heterocalixarenes cyclodextrins cucurbiturils cyclotriveratylenes rotaxanes catenanes complex 3D architectures, including trefoils and knots Macrocycles: Construction, Chemistry and Nanotechnology Applications distills the essence of this important topic for undergraduate and postgraduate students, and for researchers in other fields interested in getting a general insight into this increasingly important class of molecules.

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Action and Adventure in a New Age of Steam!Join Ulysses Quicksilver – dandy, adventurer and agent of the crown – as he battles the enemies of the Empire in this collection of rip-roaring steampunk adventures. This action-packed tome brings you three sensational tales...Unnatural History: Queen Victoria is celebrating the 160th year of her reign, but all is not well at the heart of the empire. An eminent professor of evolutionary biology goes missing. A catastrophic Overground rail-crash unleashes the dinosaurs of London Zoo. Is this the work of crazed revolutionaries, or are more sinister forces at work? For Ulysses the game is afoot!Leviathan Rising: It’s all aboard the Neptune, the latest in submersible cruise-liners, for a jolly ocean jaunt. But what starts out as a holiday quickly turns into a voyage of terror for Ulysses and his companions. A brutal murder is committed and then an act of sabotage plunges the Neptune into the abyssal depths. There a deadly secret awaits them, as the Leviathan awakes!Human Nature: The Whitby Mermaid is stolen from Cruickshank’s Cabinet of Curiosities and Ulysses Quicksilver is soon on the case. What does the theft have to do with the mysterious House of Monkeys? And what of the enigmatic criminal known as the Magpie? Ulysses’ investigation takes him to Whitby, where something sinister lurks on the moors, carefully choosing its victims!

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In Post-Democracy (Polity, 2004) Colin Crouch argued that behind the façade of strong institutions, democracy in many advanced societies was being hollowed out, its big events becoming empty rituals as power passed increasingly to circles of wealthy business elites and an ever-more isolated political class.Crouch’s provocative argument has in many ways been vindicated by recent events, but these have also highlighted some weaknesses of the original thesis and shown that the situation today is even worse. The global financial deregulation that was the jewel in the crown of wealthy elite lobbying brought us the financial crisis and helped stimulate xenophobic movements which no longer accept the priority of institutions that safeguard democracy, like the rule of law. The rise of social media has enabled a handful of very rich individuals and institutions to target vast numbers of messages at citizens, giving a false impression of debate that is really stage-managed from a small number of concealed sources. Crouch evaluates the implications of these and other developments for his original thesis, arguing that while much of his thesis remains sound, he had under-estimated the value of institutions which are vital to the support of a democratic order. He also confronts the challenge of populists who seem to echo the complaints of Post-Democracy but whose pessimistic nostalgia brings an anti-democratic brew of hatred, exclusion and violence.

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In The Currency of Empire, Jonathan Barth explores the intersection of money and power in the early years of North American history, and he shows how the control of money informed English imperial action overseas. The export-oriented mercantile economy promoted by the English Crown, Barth argues, directed the plan for colonization, the regulation of colonial commerce, and the politics of empire. The imperial project required an orderly flow of gold and silver, and thus England's colonial regime required stringent monetary regulation. As Barth shows, money was also a flash point for resistance; many colonists acutely resented their subordinate economic station, desiring for their local economies a robust, secure, and uniform money supply. This placed them immediately at odds with the mercantilist laws of the empire and precipitated an imperial crisis in the 1670s, a full century before the Declaration of Independence. The Currency of Empire examines what were a series of explosive political conflicts in the seventeenth century and demonstrates how the struggle over monetary policy prefigured the patriot reaction to the Stamp Act and so-called Intolerable Acts on the eve of American independence. Thanks to generous funding from the Arizona State University and George Mason University, the ebook editions of this book are available as Open Access (OA) volumes from Cornell Open (cornellpress.cornell.edu/cornell-open) and other Open Access repositories.

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Tracing the evolving nature of popular and official beliefs about the purported nature of the Jews from the 18th century onwards, Russia and the Jewish Question explores how perceptions of Jews in late Imperial Russia and the Soviet Union shaped the regimes’ policies toward them. In so doing Robert Weinberg provides a fruitful lens through which to investigate the social, economic, political, and cultural developments of modern Russia. Here, Weinberg reveals that the ‘Jewish Question’ – and, by extension anti-Semitism – emerged at the end of the 18th century when the partitions of Poland made hundreds of thousands of Jews subjects of the Russian crown. He skillfully argues the phrase itself implies the singular nature of Jews as a group of people whose religion, culture, and occupational make-up prevent them from fitting into predominantly Christian societies. The book then expounds how other characteristics were associated with the group over time: in particular, debates about rights of citizenship, the impact of industrialization, the emergence of the nation-state, and the proliferation of new political ideologies and movements contributed to the changing nature of the ‘Jewish Question’. Its content may have not remained static, but its purpose consistently questions whether or not Jews pose a threat to the stability and well-being of the societies in which they live and this, in a specifically Russian context, is what Weinberg examines so expertly.

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The new edition of the gold-standard clinical reference on addressing common, complex, and multifactorial clinical scenarios Orthodontic Treatment of Impacted Teeth integrates the latest developments and scientific evidence to provide authoritative coverage of orthodontic diagnosis and treatment, radiographic methods, surgical access, treatment strategies, and more. This new edition incorporates recent advances in research and presents up-to-date treatment recommendations for clinical practice. New and expanded chapters address topics such as abnormal root growth associated with tooth Impaction, improvements in the diagnosis of pathologic entities using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), root and crown resorption, and treating abnormal incisor root development caused by past trauma. Throughout the text, readers gain valuable insight into the management of impacted teeth in real-world practice, illustrated by updated cases from the author's own clinic. Provides protocols for common cases as well as complex and rare presentations Contains individual chapters on the specific aspects of the diagnosis and treatment of impaction in each of the different types of teeth Covers prevalence, etiology, diagnosis, attitudes to treatment, treatment timing, treatment methods, and prognosis Features more than 1,000 high-quality color images and illustrations Orthodontic Treatment of Impacted Teeth, Fourth Edition, remains essential reading for all specialist orthodontists, academic researchers and instructors, oral and maxillofacial surgeons, and advanced students in orthodontics.

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From its origins in the 1670s through the French Revolution, serious opera in France was associated with the power of the absolute monarchy, and its ties to the crown remain at the heart of our understanding of this opera tradition (especially its foremost genre, the tragedie en musique). In Opera and the Political Imaginary in Old Regime France, however, Olivia Bloechl reveals another layer of French opera's political theater. The make-believe worlds on stage, she shows, involved not just fantasies of sovereign rule, but also aspects of government. Plot conflicts over public conduct, morality, security, and law thus appear side-by-side with tableaus hailing glorious majesty. What's more, opera's creators dispersed sovereign-like dignity and powers well beyond the genre's larger-than-life rulers and gods, to its lovers, magicians, and artists. This speaks to the genre's distinctive combination of a theological political vocabulary with a concern for mundane human capacities, which is explored here for the first time. By looking at the political relations among opera characters and choruses in recurring scenes of mourning, confession, punishment, and pardoning, we can glimpse a collective political experience underlying, and sometimes working against, ancienregime absolutism. Through this lens, French opera of the period emerges as a deeply conservative, yet also more politically nuanced, genre than previously thought.

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Winner of the Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography 2016Frederick Hamiton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, enjoyed a glittering career which few could equal. As Viceroy of India and Governor-General of Canada, he held the two most exalted positions available under the Crown, but prior to this his achievements as a British ambassador included restoring order to sectarian conflict in Syria, helping to keep Canada British, paving the way for the annexation of Egypt and preventing war from breaking out on India's North-West Frontier.Dufferin was much more than a diplomat and politician, however: he was a leading Irish landlord, an adventurer and a travel writer whose Letters from High Latitudes proved a publishing sensation. He also became a celebrity of the time, and in his attempts to sustain his reputation he became trapped by his own inventions, thereafter living his public life in fear of exposure. Ingenuity, ability and charm usually saved the day, yet in the end catastrophe struck in the form of the greatest City scandal for forty years and the death of his heir in the Boer War.With unique access to the family archive at Clandeboye, Andrew Gailey presents a full biography of the figure once referred to as the 'most popular man in Europe'.

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On January 1, 1967, a new contract between 'Colonel' Tom Parker and his sole client, Elvis Presley, gave Parker a 50 per cent cut of royalties and profits that Presely generated. It was an unashamed grab for a bigger piece of a pie that had actually been shrinking for some time. Parker's plan to re-establish Presley as a star after he left the army in 1960 had been successful at first, with the success of films like "G.I. Blues" and "Blue Hawaii" and their soundtracks. But as the decade progressed the films became formulaic, the music bland, and sales declined. By 1967 Presley's singles struggled to break the top 20, and he hadn't had a number one for six years. Yet by the end of 1968 he was artistically revitalized, re-emerging in a TV comeback special of December that year slimmed down for the now iconic black leather suit, playing country-soul influenced rock like he meant it and loved it. It was the pivotal moment of the second great period of Presley's career, which lasted through to the end of 1970, during which he recorded some of his most enduring records, including "Suspicious Minds" and "In The Ghetto". In "Return Of The King" author Gillian Gaar shows how Presley reclaimed his crown, making an extraordinary transition from fading MoR balladeer to engaged, vital artist.

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The blockbuster danmei/Boys' Love novels from China that inspired the animated series! This epic historical fantasy about a prince and the mysterious man by his side is now in English, for the very first time! Born the crown prince of a prosperous kingdom, Xie Lian was renowned for his beauty, strength, and purity. His years of dedication and noble deeds allowed him to ascend to godhood. But those who rise, can also fall...and fall he does, cast from the Heavens again and again and banished to the mortal realm. Eight hundred years after his mortal life, Xie Lian has ascended to godhood for the third time. Now only a lowly scrap collector, he is dispatched to wander the earthly realm to take on tasks appointed by the heavens to pay back debts and maintain his divinity. Aided by old friends and foes alike, and graced with the company of a mysterious young man with whom he feels an instant connection, Xie Lian must confront the horrors of his past in order to dispel the curse of his present. This xianxia fantasy tale built around the romanticized love between two men (danmei) has spawned an ongoing multimedia franchise that's beloved across the world. The Seven Seas English-language edition will include covers from (tai3_3), and exclusive, all-new interior illustrations from ZeldaCW.

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Here in a newly annotated edition are the two founding documents of the United States of America: the Declaration of Independence (1776), our great revolutionary manifesto, and the Constitution (1787–88), in which “We the People” forged a new nation and built the framework for our federal republic. Together with the Bill of Rights and the Civil War amendments, these documents constitute what James Madison called our “political scriptures” and have come to define us as a people. Now a Pulitzer Prize–winning historian serves as a guide to these texts, providing historical contexts and offering interpretive commentary. In an introductory essay written for the general reader, Jack N. Rakove provides a narrative political account of how these documents came to be written. In his commentary on the Declaration of Independence, Rakove sets the historical context for a fuller appreciation of the important preamble and the list of charges leveled against the Crown. When he glosses the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the subsequent amendments, Rakove once again provides helpful historical background, targets language that has proven particularly difficult or controversial, and cites leading Supreme Court cases. A chronology of events provides a framework for understanding the road to Philadelphia. The general reader will not find a better, more helpful guide to our founding documents than Jack N. Rakove.

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"For anyone who wants to learn about the rise and decline of Potosí as a city . . . Lane’s book is the ideal place to begin."—The New York Review of Books In 1545, a native Andean prospector hit pay dirt on a desolate red mountain in highland Bolivia. There followed the world's greatest silver bonanza, making the Cerro Rico or "Rich Hill" and the Imperial Villa of Potosí instant legends, famous from Istanbul to Beijing. The Cerro Rico alone provided over half of the world's silver for a century, and even in decline, it remained the single richest source on earth. Potosí is the first interpretive history of the fabled mining city’s rise and fall. It tells the story of global economic transformation and the environmental and social impact of rampant colonial exploitation from Potosí’s startling emergence in the sixteenth century to its collapse in the nineteenth. Throughout, Kris Lane’s invigorating narrative offers rare details of this thriving city and its promise of prosperity. A new world of native workers, market women, African slaves, and other ordinary residents who lived alongside the elite merchants, refinery owners, wealthy widows, and crown officials, emerge in lively, riveting stories from the original sources. An engrossing depiction of excess and devastation, Potosí reveals the relentless human tradition in boom times and bust.

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Lyric theater in ancien régime France was an eminently political art, tied to the demands of court spectacle. This was true not only of tragic opera (tragédie lyrique) but also its comic counterpart, opéra comique, a form tracing its roots to the seasonal trade fairs of Paris. While historians have long privileged the genre’s popular origins, opéra comique was brought under the protection of the French crown in 1762, thus consolidating a new venue where national music might be debated and defined. In The Comedians of the King, Julia Doe traces the impact of Bourbon patronage on the development of opéra comique in the turbulent prerevolutionary years. Drawing on both musical and archival evidence, the book presents the history of this understudied genre and unpacks the material structures that supported its rapid evolution at the royally sponsored Comédie-Italienne. Doe demonstrates how comic theater was exploited in, and worked against, the monarchy’s carefully cultivated public image—a negotiation that became especially fraught after the accession of the music-loving queen, Marie Antoinette. The Comedians of the King examines the aesthetic and political tensions that arose when a genre with popular foundations was folded into the Bourbon propaganda machine, and when a group of actors trained at the Parisian fairs became official representatives of the sovereign, or comédiens ordinaires du roi.

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'Intriguing characters and a finely tuned sense of drama...' - Library Journal on The Innocent Mage'A writer who seems to set the rule for the genre' - Waterstone's Books Quarterly'The Innocent Mage is come, and we stand at the beginning of the end of everything'Being a fisherman like his father isn't a bad life, but it's not the one that Asher wants. Despite his humble roots, Asher has grand dreams. And they call him to Dorana, home of princes, beggars . . . and the warrior mages who have protected the kingdom for generations.Little does Asher know, however, that his arrival in the city is being closely watched by members of the Circle, a secret organisation dedicated to preserving an ancient magic. Asher might have come to the city to make his fortune, but he will find his destiny . . .One of bestselling fantasy debuts of the last decade: enter the world of Kingmaker, Kingbreaker - a wildly fast-paced fantasy series brimming with action and adventure.The Innocent Mage is book one in the Kingmaker, Kingbreaker series.Books by Karen Miller:Kingmaker, Kingbreaker SeriesThe Innocent MageThe Awakened MageA Blight of MagesGodspeakerEmpress of MijakThe Riven KingdomThe Hammer of GodFisherman's ChildrenThe Prodigal MageThe Reluctant MageTarnished CrownThe Falcon ThronePrince of Glass

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Shortlisted for the HWA Sharpe Books Non-Fiction Crown AwardA work of investigative history that will completely change the way in which we see the Romanov story. Finally, here is the truth about the secret plans to rescue Russia’s last imperial family.On 17 July 1918, the whole of the Russian Imperial Family was murdered. There were no miraculous escapes. The former Tsar Nicholas, his wife Alexandra, and their children – Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexey – were all tragically gunned down in a blaze of bullets. Historian Helen Rappaport sets out to uncover why the Romanovs’ European royal relatives and the Allied governments failed to save them. It was not, ever, a simple case of one British King’s loss of nerve. In this race against time, many other nations and individuals were facing political and personal challenges of the highest order.In this incredible detective story, Rappaport draws on an unprecedented range of unseen sources, tracking down missing documents, destroyed papers and covert plots to liberate the family by land, sea and even sky. Through countless twists and turns, this revelatory work unpicks many false claims and conspiracies, revealing the fiercest loyalty, bitter rivalries and devastating betrayals as the Romanovs, imprisoned, awaited their fate.A remarkable new work of history from Helen Rappaport, author of Ekaterinburg: The Last Days of the Romanovs.

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The action manga bestseller returns, in 600-page editions featuring a remastered translation and new cover art by creator Hiroyuki Takei! Dive into the classic Shonen Jump adventure whose world of mystical spirits and bewitching battles inspired the classic anime.This volume corresponds to Vol. 16-18 of the original release, featuring updated translation and lettering, back in print more than 20 years after its initial release!In a world where shamans communicate with the dead and call forth the power of legendary spirits to defeat their enemies in both body and soul, Yoh is a teenager with the ultimate ambition: to become the Shaman King, the one and only shaman who may commune with the Great Spirit and help remake the world for the better. But the road to this pinnacle of spiritual power runs through the Shaman Fight, a gauntlet of battles with rival mediums who call forth dizzying powers from the world of the dead in their own bids for the crown. At Yoh's side is Anna, his coach, fiancée, and a powerful medium in her own right. Sure, it'd be nice if Yoh had a little more time to train and mature...but the Shaman Fight is only held once every 500 years, so he's going to have to grow up quick!

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From a bestselling author in Mexico comes her English-language debut—an enthralling historical novel about the tragic reign of Empress Carlota of Mexico. It’s 1863. Napoleon III has installed a foreign monarch in Mexico to squash the current regime. Maximilian von Habsburg of Austria accepts the emperor’s crown. But it is his wife, the brilliant and ambitious Princess Charlotte, who throws herself passionately into the role. Known to the people as Empress Carlota, she rules deftly from behind the scenes while her husband contents himself with philandering and decorating the palace. But Carlota bears a guilty secret. Trapped in a loveless marriage, she’s thrown herself into a reckless affair. Desire has blinded Carlota to its consequences, for it has left her vulnerable to her sole trusted confidante. Carlota’s devious lady-in-waiting has political beliefs of her own—and they are strong enough to cause her to betray the empress and join a plot to depose her from the throne. As Carlota grows increasingly, maddeningly defenseless, both her own fate and that of the empire are at stake. A sweeping historical novel of forbidden love, dangerous secrets, courtly intrigue, and treachery, The Empress passionately reimagines the tragic romance and ill-fated reign of the most unforgettable royal couple of nineteenth-century Europe during the last throes of the Second Empire.

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Set in the author's homeland of West Virginia, this panoramic collection of stories traces the people and animals who live in precarious balance in the mountains of Appalachia over a span of two hundred years, in a disappearing rural world. With omniscient narration, rich detail, and lyrical prose, Matthew Neill Null brings his landscape and characters vividly to life."Allegheny Front has few sentimental trappings. . . . Men's stubbornness is a rock face, in these intelligent and unpretentious stories, their anger a crown fire, their occasional tenderness a rill. . . . It remains at a distance from judgment, at a remove from easy definitions, unspooling a lucid and often painful history of appetite, exploitation, and bereavement."—Lydia Millet, from the introduction"Rich in history, speech, incident, flora, fauna, vernacular, geology, politics—Matthew Neill Null's work is dazzling. . . . If anything ever happened in the state of West Virginia, Null knows the long and short of it, and will make its story sing."—Salvatore ScibonaMatthew Neill Null is the author of the novel Honey from the Lion (Lookout Books). A graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, winner of the PEN/O. Henry Award and the Joseph Brodsky Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, his short fiction has appeared in the Oxford American, Ploughshares, the Mississippi Review, American Short Fiction, Ecotone, and elsewhere. He divides his time between West Virginia and Provincetown, Massachusetts, where he coordinates the writing fellowship at the Fine Arts Work Center.

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Because of their unique properties (size, shape, and surface functions), functional materials are gaining significant attention in the areas of energy conversion and storage, sensing, electronics, photonics, and biomedicine. Within the chapters of this book written by well-known researchers, one will find the range of methods that have been developed for preparation and functionalization of organic, inorganic and hybrid structures which are the necessary building blocks for the architecture of various advanced functional materials. The book discusses these innovative methodologies and research strategies, as well as provides a comprehensive and detailed overview of the cutting-edge research on the processing, properties and technology developments of advanced functional materials and their applications. Specifically, Advanced Functional Materials: Compiles the objectives related to functional materials and provides detailed reviews of fundamentals, novel production methods, and frontiers of functional materials, including metalic oxides, conducting polymers, carbon nanotubes, discotic liquid crystalline dimers, calixarenes, crown ethers, chitosan and graphene. Discusses the production and characterization of these materials, while mentioning recent approaches developed as well as their uses and applications for sensitive chemiresistors, optical and electronic materials, solar hydrogen generation, supercapacitors, display and organic light-emitting diodes, functional adsorbents, and antimicrobial and biocompatible layer formation. This volume in the Advanced Materials Book Series includes twelve chapters divided into two main areas: Part 1: Functional Metal Oxides: Architecture, Design and Applications and Part 2: Multifunctional Hybrid Materials: Fundamentals and Frontiers

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The Continental Divide Trail presents the full glory of this challenging trail in breathtaking images, ephemera, and maps. While untold thousands of day hikers take advantage of the CDT each year, thru-hiking the entire trail is not for the faint-hearted. In 2017, only 250 people will attempt to hike it end to end. The Continental Divide Trail is perfect for anyone interested in conservation, outdoor recreation, or American history, or for those who dream of one day becoming thru-hikers themselves.This is the first large-format book published in conjunction with the Continental Divide Trail Coalition, and the breathtaking photographs make you feel as if you were on the trail. The book includes maps and rarely seen archival images, as well as a written backstory of this great trail. This photo- and information-packed book is a must-have for anyone who has ever caught the magic of the nation s rooftop, the Great Divide. It s an inspirational bucket list for everyone who wants to get outdoors day hiker, backpacker, fisherman, hunter, and those rare souls thru-hikers who dare to attempt hiking it all in one go.With text by Barney Mann, who has thru-hiked all three Triple Crown trails, and a foreword by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, this book makes the trail come alive for both veteran hikers and armchair travelers alike.

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SHORTLISTED FOR THE HWA GOLD CROWN LONGLISTED FOR THE BRITISH SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION 2021 BEST NOVEL For fans of Matt Haig, Stuart Turton and Bridget Collins comes a sweeping historical adventure from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street 'Original, joyous and horrifying, The Kingdoms is an awe-inspiring feat of imagination and passion which had me in tears by the end' - Catriona Ward Come home, if you remember The postcard has been held at the sorting office for ninety-one years, waiting to be delivered to Joe Tournier. On the front is a lighthouse – Eilean Mor, in the Outer Hebrides. Joe has never left England, never even left London. He is a British slave, one of thousands throughout the French Empire. He has a job, a wife, a baby daughter. But he also has flashes of a life he cannot remember and of a world that never existed – a world where English is spoken in England, and not French. And now he has a postcard of a lighthouse built just six months ago, that was first written nearly one hundred years ago, by a stranger who seems to know him very well. Joe’s journey to unravel the truth will take him from French-occupied London to a remote Scottish island, and back through time itself as he battles for his life – and for a very different future.

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Bainton Prize for History and Theology Honorable MentionDeza and Its Moriscos addresses an incongruity in early modern Spanish historiography: a growing awareness of the importance played by Moriscos in Spanish society and culture alongside a dearth of knowledge about individuals or local communities. By reassessing key elements in the religious and social history of early modern Spain through the experience of the small Castilian town of Deza, Patrick J. O’Banion asserts the importance of local history in understanding large-scale historical events and challenges scholars to rethink how marginalized people of the past exerted their agency. Moriscos, baptized Muslims and their descendants, were pressured to convert to Christianity at the end of the Middle Ages but their mass baptisms led to fears about lingering crypto-Islamic activities. Many political and religious authorities, and many of the Moriscos’ neighbors as well, concluded that the conversions had produced false Christians. Between 1609 and 1614 nearly all of Spain’s Moriscos—some three hundred thousand individuals—were thus expelled from their homeland. Contrary to the assumptions of many modern scholars, rich source materials show the town’s Morisco minority wielded remarkable social, economic, and political power. Drawing deeply on a diverse collection of archival material as well as early printed works, this study illuminates internal conflicts, external pressures brought to bear by the Inquisition, the episcopacy, and the crown, and the possibilities and limitations of negotiated communal life at the dawn of modernity.

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This absorbing book explores the tensions within the Roman Catholic church and between the church and royal authority in France in the crucial period 1290-1321. During this time the crown tried to force churchmen to accept policies many considered inconsistent with ecclesiastical freedom and traditions--such as paying war taxes and expelling the Jews from the kingdom. William Jordan considers these issues through the eyes of one of the most important and courageous actors, the Cistercian monk, professor, abbot, and polemical writer Jacques de Therines. The result is a fresh perspective on what Jordan terms "the story of France in a politically terrifying period of its existence, one of unceasing strife and unending fear." Jacques de Therines was involved in nearly every controversy of the period: the expulsion of the Jews from France, the relocation of the papacy to Avignon, the affair of the Templars, the suppression of the "heresies" of Marguerite Porete and of the Spiritual Franciscans, and the defense of the "exempt" monastic orders' freedom from all but papal control. The stands he took were often remarkable in themselves: hostility to the expulsion of Jews and spirited defense of the Templars, for example. The book also traces the emergence of King Philip the Fair's (1285-1314) almost paranoid style of rule and its impact on church-state relations, which makes the expression of Jacques de Therines's views all the more courageous.

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This volume includes: Olga Levaniouk, “The Dreams of Barčin and Penelope”; Paul K. Hosle, “Bacchylides’ Theseus and Vergil’s Aristaeus”; Vayos Liapis, “Arion and the Dolphin: Apollo Delphinios and Maritime Networks in Herodotus”; Nino Luraghi, “The Peloponnesian Peace: Herodotus, Thucydides, and the Ideology of the Peace of Nikias”; Andrea Capra, “The Staging and Meaning of Aristophanes’ Assemblywomen”; Konstantine Panegyres, “Moses, Pharaoh, and the Waters of the Nile: Artapanus FGrHist 726 F 3”; Roy D. Kotansky, “Underworld and Celestial Eschatologies in the ‘Orphic’ Gold Leaves”; Vittorio Remo Danovi, “New Citations from the Libri Etruscorum and Varro in Vergilian Scholia”; T. H. M. Gellar-Goad, “Tears and Personified Nature in Juvenal 15.131–140 and Lucretius 3.931–962”; Tristan Power, “Textual Conjectures on Catullus 55.9-12”; Francesco Rotiroti, “From Beneficent God to Maddened Bull: The Shepherd of Men in the Works of Virgil”; J. S. C. Eidinow, “The Critic and the Farmer: Horace, Maecenas, and Virgil in Horace Carm. 1.1”; Shirley Werner, “The Rules of the Game: Imitation and Mimesis in Horace Epistles 1.19”; Francis Newton, “Ovid Met. 1: Jupiter’s Plebeians, the Titles of Augustus, and the Poet’s Exile”; Simona Martorana, “Omission and Allusion: When Statius’ Hypsipyle Reads Ovid’s Heroides 6”; Michael Zellmann-Rohrer, “The Chronokratores in Greek Astrology, in Light of a New Papyrus Text: Oxford, Bodl. MS Gr. Class. B 24 (P) 1–2”; Konstantine Panegyres, “ΒΟΜΒΟΣ: Heliodorus Aethiopica 9.17.1”; Andrew C. Johnston, “Aemilius and the Crown: Rome and the Hellenistic World of the Alexander Romance.”

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When Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE, the force of the explosion blew the top right off the mountain, burying nearby Pompeii in a shower of volcanic ash. Ironically, the calamity that proved so lethal for Pompeii's inhabitants preserved the city for centuries, leaving behind a snapshot of Roman daily life that has captured the imagination of generations.The experience of Pompeii always reflects a particular time and sensibility, says Ingrid Rowland. From Pompeii: The Afterlife of a Roman Town explores the fascinating variety of these different experiences, as described by the artists, writers, actors, and others who have toured the excavated site. The city's houses, temples, gardens--and traces of Vesuvius's human victims--have elicited responses ranging from awe to embarrassment, with shifting cultural tastes playing an important role. The erotic frescoes that appalled eighteenth-century viewers inspired Renoir to change the way he painted. For Freud, visiting Pompeii was as therapeutic as a session of psychoanalysis. Crown Prince Hirohito, arriving in the Bay of Naples by battleship, found Pompeii interesting, but Vesuvius, to his eyes, was just an ugly version of Mount Fuji. Rowland treats readers to the distinctive, often quirky responses of visitors ranging from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Charles Dickens, and Mark Twain to Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman.Interwoven throughout a narrative lush with detail and insight is the thread of Rowland's own impressions of Pompeii, where she has returned many times since first visiting in 1962.

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From Sunday Times bestselling author Julia Quinn and television pioneer Shonda Rhimes comes a powerful and romantic novel, inspired by the original series Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, created by Shondaland for Netflix.'We are one crown. His weight is mine, and mine is his . . .'In 1761, on a sunny day in September, a King and Queen meet for the first time. They are married within hours. Charlotte is beautiful, headstrong, and fiercely intelligent - George is instantly captivated. But as Charlotte falls in love, the King starts to push her away. Because George has secrets . . . secrets with the potential to shake the foundations of the monarchy.Thrust into her new role, scared and alone, Charlotte must learn to navigate the intricate politics of the court, and to understand that she has been given the power to remake society. She must fight - for herself, for her husband, and for all her new subjects. For she will never be just Charlotte again. It's time for her to fulfil her destiny . . . as Queen....................Readers have fallen head over heels for Queen Charlotte!'A great story about how love overcomes all. Incredibly touching to read''A beautiful story of not just love, but strength and character. This novel was just as good as the show''To truly understand the series, you have to read this book. It's even better reading it''George and Charlotte will make you laugh, cry, give you hope, and break your heart'

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This title helps you find out about the land of the pharaohs, with 15 step-by-step projects and over 400 exciting pictures. You can step back in time to the world of the ancient Egyptians and uncover the treasures and secrets of this mysterious 3000-year-old civilization. It includes fact boxes that provide additional information and highlight links with the present. It is ideal for home or school use and for ages 8 to 12. It features 15 easy and fun projects that allow you to bring the past to life - make a miniature pyramid, build a model boat suitable for sailing on the Nile, create your own water clock, sculpt a canopic jar, and bake pastries from an age-old Egyptian recipe. More than 400 photographs and illustrations include specially commissioned cross-section diagrams, historical maps and hieroglyphs. You can learn what life was like for the people of the Nile Delta. You can delve into the dark secrets of their funeral rites, mummies and tombs, and the many strange gods they revered. You can learn about their love of fine art and crafts, and their amazing architectural skills. A variety of practical projects will help you to experience how ancient Egyptians lived. You can make a crown fit for a pharaoh, build a scale model of an Egyptian house, and play a traditional board game. This accessible book is ideal for fun and learning, at home or at school.

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"Wonderfully lush and enthralling." —Erin A. Craig, New York Times bestselling author of House of Salt and SorrowsFrom the author of Crown of Coral and Pearl comes an immersive new fantasy about a witch who must learn to harness her power—or risk losing her loved ones forever.Liora has spent her life in hiding, knowing discovery could mean falling prey to the king’s warlock, Darius, who uses mages’ magic to grow his own power. But when her worst nightmare comes to pass, Darius doesn’t take her. Instead, he demands that her younger sister return to the capital with him. To make matters worse, Evran, Liora’s childhood friend and the only one who knows her secret, goes missing following Darius’s visit, leaving her without anyone to turn to.To find Evran and to save her sister, Liora must embrace the power she has always feared. But the greatest danger she’ll face is yet to come, for Darius has plans in motion that will cause the world to fall into chaos—and Liora and Evran may be the only ones who can stop him. “A beautiful, enchanting tale of a young woman coming into her own powers. Luminous shines as brightly as its heroine.” —Joan He, New York Times bestselling author of The Ones We’re Meant to Find“Shining prose, radiant characters, and a love story that burns bright.” —Elly Blake, New York Times bestselling author of the Frostblood Saga

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"One of the premier authors of paranormal romance. Gena Showalter delivers an utterly spellbinding story!"—Kresley Cole, #1 New York Times bestselling authorNew York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter returns with The Phantom, the third book in her pulse-pounding Rise of the Warlords series, featuring a vengeful harpy and a callous torture master locked in a battle to the death. As the son of a war god, Roux Pyroesis has suffered unending pain—he’s caused it, too, dispatching his foes with alarming ease. Now he’s tasked with cutting out the heart of a powerful queen who rules an ancient prison realm inhabited by the most vicious immortal females in existence.Blythe the Undoing is a decorated harpy warrior determined to annihilate Roux, the invader who killed her beloved consort. Nothing will stop her. Even if she must trap herself for eternity by sneaking into the brutal realm and taking the crown, pitting herself against the merciless male she’s sworn to despise.Having never known desire, Roux is ill prepared for the stunning beauty who challenges him at every turn. For the survival of his army, duty comes first. Always. But what happens when the flames of Blythe’s hatred burn out and she craves him, too…but only one of them can live?Don't miss the rest of the Rise of the Warlords series: Book 1: The Warlord Book 2: The Immortal Book 3: The Phantom Book 4: The Wrath - Coming Feb 2024!

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A dark and twisty murder mystery - Ace of Spades meets Riverdale 'At once incisive and chilling, The Black Queen folds hard-hitting truths into a propulsive murder mystery, delivering a story that both entertains and examines. This is Pretty Little Liars for a new generation.' - Tahereh Mafi, New York Times bestselling author of the Shatter Me series Tinsley McArthur was supposed to become homecoming queen, just like generations of McArthur women before her. But in a bid for diversity, Lovett High wants a black queen this year and the top contender is the bold and beautiful Nova Albright. Though Tinsley tries to convince her to drop out, Nova isn't about to step aside for some rich white girl. On homecoming night, drunk and enraged, Tinsley is caught on camera declaring she should have killed Nova. The next morning Lovett High's first Black homecoming queen turns up dead. Would Tinsley do anything for the crown? Nova's best friend Duchess certainly thinks so. So when Tinsley asks Duchess for help to clear her name, she agrees. She's determined to get justice for Nova, even it means befriending a murderer to find proof against her. But their investigation begins to uncover secrets about Nova's past and one big secret that could change everything in their small town. Perfect for fans of Ace of Spades, A Good Girl's Guide to Murder and Riverdale Sharp, clever and unputdownable - a thriller with a bite From 2018 PitchWars author Jumata Emill

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From the award-winning and bestselling author of Shatter Me comes All This Twisted Glory, the highly anticipated third novel in the Persian inspired mythology This Woven Kingdom series As the long-lost heir to the Jinn throne, Alizeh has finally found her people—and she might’ve found her crown. Cyrus, the mercurial ruler of Tulan, has offered her his kingdom in a twisted exchange: one that would begin with their marriage and end with his murder. Cyrus’s dark reputation precedes him; all the world knows of his blood-soaked past. Killing him should be easy—and accepting his offer might be the only way to fulfill her destiny and save her people. But the more Alizeh learns of him, the more she questions whether the terrible stories about him are true. Ensnared by secrets, Cyrus has ached for Alizeh since she first appeared in his dreams many months ago. Now that he knows those visions were planted by the devil, he can hardly bear to look at her—much less endure her company. But despite their best efforts to despise each other, Alizeh and Cyrus are drawn together over and over with an all-consuming thirst that threatens to destroy them both. Meanwhile, Prince Kamran has arrived in Tulan, ready to exact revenge… Layered with exquisite tension and heart-stopping romance, All This Twisted Glory is the explosive third book in the captivating, bestselling This Woven Kingdom series.

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NEVER in the history of the game has one life brought both joy and tragedy in such huge measures. Duncan Edwards was the jewel in the crown of the Busby Babes, an all-time legend at just 21, who was denied the chance to achieve even greater footballing success by the Munich Air Disaster in 1958. This fascinating new biography, with support from friends and relatives, includes rare and unseen pictures and tells the story of the boy who left his home in Dudley to earn his Manchester United debut at the age of 16 – and made such an impression that he was an England international at 18. The most forensic account of this remarkable life and career includes new interviews, as well as contributions from icons of United and the wider English game – plus quotes from Edwards himself. He packed so much into a short career, collecting 18 caps, winning the First Division title twice, and helping Matt Busby’s team take their first steps in European football, but it was an all-round game that had no weakness that impressed most. Team-mate Bobby Charlton summed Edwards up best: “Sentiment can throw a man’s judgement out of perspective. Yet it is not the case with him. A few are great, and deserve respect. But Duncan Edwards was the greatest.” ‘Eternal’ is the complete story of an extraordinary footballer, whose influence on Manchester United and the success that followed can still be felt today.

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The end is coming.Logen Ninefingers might only have one more fight in him - but it's going to be a big one. Battle rages across the North, the King of the Northmen still stands firm, and there's only one man who can stop him. His oldest friend, and his oldest enemy. It's past time for the Bloody-Nine to come home.With too many masters and too little time, Superior Glokta is fighting a different kind of war. A secret struggle in which no-one is safe, and no-one can be trusted. His days with a sword are far behind him. It's a good thing blackmail, threats and torture still work well enough.Jezal dan Luthar has decided that winning glory is far too painful, and turned his back on soldiering for a simple life with the woman he loves. But love can be painful too, and glory has a nasty habit of creeping up on a man when he least expects it.While the King of the Union lies on his deathbead, the peasants revolt and the nobles scramble to steal his crown. No-one believes that the shadow of war is falling across the very heart of the Union. The First of the Magi has a plan to save the world, as he always does. But there are risks. There is no risk more terrible, after all, than to break the First Law...

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"This history will endure; not only because Sir Winston has written it, but also because of its own inherent virtues — its narrative power, its fine judgment of war and politics, of soldiers and statesmen, and even more because it reflects a tradition of what Englishmen in the hey-day of their empire thought and felt about their country's past." The Daily Telegraph Spanning four volumes and many centuries of history, from Caesar’s invasion of Britain to the start of World War I, A History of the English-Speaking Peoples stands as one of Winston Churchill’s most magnificent literary works. Begun during Churchill’s ‘wilderness years’ when he was out of government, first published in 1956 after his leadership through the darkest days of World War II had cemented his place in history and completed when Churchill was in his 80s, it remains to this day a compelling and vivid history. The second volume – The New World – explores the emergence of Britain on the world stage and a turbulent period at home: from Henry VIII’s break with Rome and the English Reformation to the fending off of the Spanish Armada and the schism between parliament and crown that led to the civil war, the fall and rise of the monarchy and the rule of Oliver Cromwell. The book also covers the historic journey of the ‘Mayflower’ that saw the English-speaking peoples’ arrival in the Americas.

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**Longlisted for the HWA Gold Crown**An eerie and compelling ghost story set on the dark wilds of the Yorkshire moors. For fans of The Witchfinder's Sister and The Silent Companions, this gothic tale will weave its way into your imagination and chill you to the bone. 'Spine-tingling... the scariest ghost story I have read in a long time' Barbara Erskine 'A wonderful, macabre evocation of a lost way of life' The Times 'Like something from Emily Bronte's nightmares' Andrew Taylor, author of The Ashes of London Maybe you've heard tales about Scarcross Hall, the house on the old coffin path that winds from village to moor top. They say there's something up here, something evil.Mercy Booth isn't afraid. The moors and Scarcross are her home and lifeblood. But, beneath her certainty, small things are beginning to trouble her. Three ancient coins missing from her father's study, the shadowy figure out by the gatepost, an unshakeable sense that someone is watching.When a stranger appears seeking work, Mercy reluctantly takes him in. As their stories entwine, this man will change everything. She just can't see it yet. What readers are saying about The Coffin Path: 'A fantastic eerie ghost story to settle down with on a winters night''Compelling and chilling, the slow build-up of tension had me completely on edge''I couldn't put it down. I felt I was there on the moors, being watched by the unseen'

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The end is coming.Logen Ninefingers might only have one more fight in him - but it's going to be a big one. Battle rages across the North, the King of the Northmen still stands firm, and there's only one man who can stop him. His oldest friend, and his oldest enemy. It's past time for the Bloody-Nine to come home.With too many masters and too little time, Superior Glokta is fighting a different kind of war. A secret struggle in which no-one is safe, and no-one can be trusted. His days with a sword are far behind him. It's a good thing blackmail, threats and torture still work well enough.Jezal dan Luthar has decided that winning glory is far too painful, and turned his back on soldiering for a simple life with the woman he loves. But love can be painful too, and glory has a nasty habit of creeping up on a man when he least expects it.While the King of the Union lies on his deathbead, the peasants revolt and the nobles scramble to steal his crown. No-one believes that the shadow of war is falling across the very heart of the Union. The First of the Magi has a plan to save the world, as he always does. But there are risks. There is no risk more terrible, after all, than to break the First Law...

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Paul Doherty's twenty-third medieval mystery featuring Sir Hugh Corbett is a gripping and gruesome tale of murder and mayhem sure to appeal to fans of C. J. Sansom and Bernard Cornwell.Spring, 1312. Edward II of England is absorbed with his favourite, Peter Gaveston, while his young wife, Isabella, is with child. Isabella's father, the ruthless Philip of France, dreams of a grandson wearing the Crown of the Confessor and starts to meddle - even if that means murder...Amaury de Craon, Philip's Master of Secrets, is despatched to carry out his deadly deeds and Edward II summons Sir Hugh Corbett, Keeper of the Secret Seal, to intercept. Both master spies lodge at the Benedictine abbey of St Michael's in the forest of Ashdown. Supposedly a house of prayer, the abbey holds sinister secrets and treasures which include the world's most exquisite diamond, The Glory of Heaven. However, shortly after their arrival, the diamond is stolen and its guardian murdered. Other macabre incidents follow, Satan is seen walking through God's Acre and a nearby tavern is burnt to the ground and no one escapes. Corbett, assisted by his henchmen, prepares to navigate this hazardous maze of murder...What readers say about Paul Doherty:'Good plots, clever twists and mostly impossible to work out''Paul Doherty's depictions of medieval England are truly outstanding''Another brilliant story in the excellent Hugh Corbett series by a superb historical author'

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An ailing king. An ambitious queen. Four tenuous friends. And a deadly game that threatens them all.The stakes are higher than ever in this thrilling sequel to A Dark and Hollow Star.After thwarting the man behind the gruesome ironborn murders - and breaking several fae laws to do so - all Arlo wants is a quiet summer. As the deity of luck's Hollow Star, capable of bringing about endless possibilities, this shouldn't be too much to ask, right?But someone is still trying to summon the mythical Seven Deadly Sins. All signs point to immortal meddling, and if this is the gods' attempt at returning to the Mortal Realm, it's Arlo they're going to use to do it.When Queen Riadne offers to host Arlo at the Seelie Summer palace, she jumps at the chance. She'll get to see more of Vehan and Aurelian and perhaps even work out her complicated feelings for the gorgeous ex-Fury, Nausicaä. But no one trusts the infamous Queen of Light, even as Arlo wonders if she's just been greatly misunderstood.With the Summer Solstice quickly approaching, everyone expects Riadne to finally challenge the High King for his crown. And as Arlo struggles to get control of her powers and take charge of her destiny, she'll soon be faced with a choice that won't only change the fate of the Mortal Realm forever, but could condemn it to a cruelty the likes of which the Courts have never known.

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This seminal period of British history is a far-off world in which poverty, violence and superstition went hand-in-hand with opulence, religious virtue and a thriving cultural landscape, at once familiar and alien to the modern reader. John Matusiak sets out to shed new light on the lives and times of the Tudors by exploring the objects they left behind. Among them, a silver-gilt board badge discarded at Bosworth Field when Henry VII won the English crown; a signet ring that may have belonged to Shakespeare; the infamous Halifax gibbet, on which some 100 people were executed; scientific advancements such as a prosthetic arm and the first flushing toilet; and curiosities including a ladies’ sun mask, ‘Prince Arthur’s hutch’ and the Danny jewel, which was believed to be made from the horn of a unicorn. The whole vivid panorama of Tudor life is laid bare in this thought-provoking and frequently myth-shattering narrative, which is firmly founded upon contemporary accounts and the most up-to-date results of modern scholarship."Everything you wanted to know about the Merrie England of the Tudors and some things you probably did not. If the Tudors seem far removed, they are also curiously modern. They had spectacles and metal prosthetic arms, while a “fuming pot” was but a prototype Air Wick. Matusiak’s mini essays accompanying the photographs are perfectly sculpted and the book is beautiful to hold." - Charlotte Heathcote, The Sunday Express

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A lavishly illustrated reference on a little-known chapter in art history – the art of the three Baltic States, covering a wide range of mediums, movements and styles. The Baltic States – Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – retain strong cultural identities that have survived despite centuries of colonization by powerful neighbouring lands. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, artists and writers were starting to reclaim and promote their own artistic heritage as radically distinct from that of the invading nations, with pioneers such as M. K. Ciurlionis and Vilhelms Purvitis demonstrating rare originality in their work. In the wake of the First World War, the three Baltic countries regained their autonomy, and the 1920s and 30s became a rich period of openness and international artistic exchange. Modernism in all its forms flourished, not only in painting but in sculpture, printmaking, photomontage and the decorative arts, ranging from the elegant abstraction of Arnold Akberg to the provocative figuration of Karlis Padegs and the experimental photography of Domicele Tarabildiene. Art of the Baltic States is organized into three main chapters, documenting the history of art in each country. Enriched with illustrations from important museum collections, Fauchereau covers key art movements as well as their complex historical background, from time under the Czars and the German crown to the invasion by the Soviet Union and beyond. With each country showcased in its own lavishly illustrated section, this is a wonderful guide to a vibrant field in European art history that is often overlooked but deserves rediscovery and a place on the global stage.

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Truth in Many Tongues examines how the Spanish monarchy managed an empire of unprecedented linguistic diversity. Considering policies and strategies exerted within the Iberian Peninsula and the New World during the sixteenth century, this book challenges the assumption that the pervasiveness of the Spanish language resulted from deliberate linguistic colonization.Daniel I. Wasserman-Soler investigates the subtle and surprising ways that Spanish monarchs and churchmen thought about language. Drawing from inquisition reports and letters; royal and ecclesiastical correspondence; records of church assemblies, councils, and synods; and printed books in a variety of genres and languages, he shows that Church and Crown officials had no single, unified policy either for Castilian or for other languages. They restricted Arabic in some contexts but not in others. They advocated using Amerindian languages, though not in all cases. And they thought about language in ways that modern categories cannot explain: they were neither liberal nor conservative, neither tolerant nor intolerant. In fact, Wasserman-Soler argues, they did not think predominantly in terms of accommodation or assimilation, categories that are common in contemporary scholarship on religious missions. Rather, their actions reveal a highly practical mentality, as they considered each context carefully before deciding what would bring more souls into the Catholic Church.Based upon original sources from more than thirty libraries and archives in Spain, Italy, the United States, England, and Mexico, Truth in Many Tongues will fascinate students and scholars who specialize in early modern Spain, colonial Latin America, Christian-Muslim relations, and early modern Catholicism.

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'Historical fiction at its most sumptuous' Rory Clements'S. J. Parris fans will be pleased' Publishers WeeklyFrom the bestselling, CWA Historical Dagger Award-nominated author of The Angel's Mark comes a gripping and atmospheric new mystery . . . ______________The Elizabethan world is in flux. Radical new ideas are challenging the old. But the quest for knowledge can lead down dangerous paths...London, 1594. The Queen's physician has been executed for treason, and conspiracy theories flood the streets. When Nicholas Shelby, unorthodox physician and unwilling associate of spymaster Robert Cecil, is accused of being part of the plot, he and his new wife Bianca must flee for their lives. With agents of the Crown on their tail, they make for Padua, following the ancient pilgrimage route, the Via Francigena. But the pursuing English aren't the only threat Nicholas and Bianca face. Hella, a strange and fervently religious young woman, has joined them on their journey. When the trio finally reach relative safety, they become embroiled in a radical and dangerous scheme to shatter the old world's limits of knowledge. But Hella's dire predictions of an impending apocalypse, and the brutal murder of a friend of Bianca's forces them to wonder: who is this troublingly pious woman? And what does she want?More praise for S. W. Perry's Jackdaw Mysteries: 'Engaging' Sunday Times'Beautiful writing' Giles Kristian'Brilliantly evokes the colours, sights and sounds of the Elizabethan era' Goodreads review'Gripping, packed with twists and turns!' Goodreads review'Spellbinding . . . I fell in love with every character' Goodreads review

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A history and analysis of one of the most dramatic moments in both air power and naval history. With the sinking of HMS Prince of Wales and Repulse, no battleship was safe on the open ocean, and the aircraft took its crown as the most powerful maritime weapon In late 1941, war was looming with Japan, and Britain's empire in southeast Asia was at risk. The British government decided to send Force Z, which included the state-of-the-art battleship Prince of Wales and the battlecruiser Repulse, to bolster the naval defences of Singapore, and provide a mighty naval deterrent to Japanese aggression. These two powerful ships arrived in Singapore on 2 December - five days before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. But crucially, they lacked air cover. On 9 December Japanese scout planes detected Force Z's approach in the Gulf of Thailand. Unlike at Pearl Harbor, battleships at sea could manoeuvre, and their anti-aircraft defences were ready. But it did no good. The Japanese dive-bombers and torpedo-bombers were the most advanced in the world, and the battle was one-sided. Strategically, the loss of Force Z was a colossal disaster for the British, and one that effectively marked the end of its empire in the East. But even more importantly, the sinking marked the last time that battleships were considered to be the masters of the ocean. From that day on, air power rather than big guns would be the deciding factor in naval warfare.

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Alfonso X 'the Learned' of Castile (1252-1284) was praised in his lifetime as a king who devoted himself to discovering all worldly and divine knowledge. He commissioned chronicles and law codes and composed poems to the Virgin Mary, he gathered together Jewish scholars to translate works of Arab astrology and astronomy, and he founded a university of Latin and Arabic studies at Seville. Moreover, according to his nephew Juan Manuel, Alfonso was careful to ensure that 'he had leisure to look into things he wanted for himself'. The level of his personal involvement in this literary activity marks him out as an exceptional patron in any period. However, Alfonso's relationship with the arts also had much in common with that of other thirteenth-century European royal patrons, among them his first cousin, Louis IX of France. Like his contemporaries, he relentlessly used literary works as a vehicle to promote his royal status and advance his claim to the imperial crown. His motivation for the foundation of the university at Seville was arguably political rather than educational, and instead of promoting institutional learning during his reign, Alfonso preferred to direct the messages about his kingship in the lavish manuscripts he patronized to a restricted, courtly audience. Yet such was the interest of the works he commissioned, that those who could obtain copies did so, even if these were still incomplete drafts. Three codices traditionally held to have been copied for Alfonso in fact show how this learning reserved for the few began to filter out beyond the Learned King's immediate circle.

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The Mighty Warrior Kings traces the history of early Europe through the biographies of nine kings, who had the courage, determination and martial might to establish their dominance over the fragmented remnants of the Roman Empire. The book begins with Charlemagne, who united large regions of current-day France, Germany and Italy into the Holy Roman Empire and ends with Robert the Bruce, who gallantry defended Scotland against the attempted usurpation of England. There are many famous warrior kings in the book, including Alfred the Great of Wessex, whose victories over the Vikings led to the unification of England under a single ruler, William I of Normandy, whose triumph at Hastings in 1066 changed the course of English history, while Frederick I Barbarossa led his army to victory in Germany and Italy solidifying and expanding the lands under the suzerainty of the Holy Roman Emperor. Among the lesser known monarchs discussed in the work are Cnut, whose victory at the battle of Ashingdon won the English crown and resulted in the creation of the North Sea Empire, which ruled over the kingdoms of England, Denmark and Norway, while during the reign of Louis IX of France the knights of Europe answered his call for the Seven Crusade to expel the Muslims from the Holy City of Jerusalem. From Charlemagne to Robert the Bruce, the warrior kings created a new Europe with a centralized powerbase and set the stage for the following Age of Absolutism.

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In an era of spectacular thoroughbreds, Spectacular Bid was perhaps the most exalted racehorse of them all. In 1979 he won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes—and transcended his sport on a run of twelve consecutive stakes victories. But he lost his quest for the Triple Crown with a third-place finish in the Belmont Stakes due to a series of bizarre events that have never before been accurately reported. In The Fast Ride, Jack Gilden tells the story of what really happened the day the Bid lost the biggest race of his life. Along the way, he introduces the reader to a cast of characters from the gilded age of late twentieth-century horse racing, from Bid’s owners, the renowned Meyerhoff family, to Grover “Buddy” Delp, the fast-talking trainer, to teenage jockey Ronnie Franklin, whose meteoric rise to fame with Spectacular Bid came at the cost of his innocence and well-being. Also present are four of the era’s magnificent Latino riders, Ángel Cordero Jr., Jacinto Vásquez, Georgie Velásquez, and Ruben Hernandez, who all felt the sting of rejection and bigotry during their long careers even as they raised the level of competition to a feverish pitch.The Fast Ride is the story of a great racehorse, unfulfilled dreams, the exhilaration and steep price of striving at all costs, and an American era in which getting everything you ever wanted could be the most empty and unfulfilling sensation of all.

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Most of us know the legend of Secretariat, the tall, handsome chestnut racehorse whose string of honours runs long and rich: the only two-year-old ever to win Horse of the Year, in 1972; winner in 1973 of the Triple Crown, his times in all three races still unsurpassed; featured on the cover of "Time", "Newsweek", and "Sports Illustrated"; the only horse listed on ESPN's top fifty athletes of the twentieth century (ahead of Mickey Mantle). His final race at Toronto's Woodbine Racetrack is a touchstone memory for horse lovers everywhere. Yet while Secretariat will be remembered forever, one man, Eddie "Shorty" Sweat, who was pivotal to the great horse's success, has been all but forgotten - until now.In "The Horse God Built", bestselling equestrian writer Lawrence Scanlan has written a tribute to an exceptional man that is also a back roads journey to a corner of the racing world rarely visited. As a young black man growing up in South Carolina, Eddie Sweat struggled at several occupations before settling on the job he was born for - groom to North America's finest racehorses. As Secretariat's groom, loyal friend, and protector, Eddie understood the horse far better than anyone else. A wildly generous man who could read a horse with his eyes, he shared in little of the financial success or glamour of Secretariat's wins on the track, but won the heart of Big Red with his soft words and relentless devotion.

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The first comprehensive study of the reception of the classical tradition in medieval Catalan letters. This book offers the first comprehensive study of the reception of the classical tradition in medieval Catalan letters, a multilingual process involving not only Latin and Catalan, but also neighbouring vernaculars like Aragonese,Castilian, French, and Italian. The authors survey the development of classical literacy from the twelfth-century Aragonese royal courts until the arrival of the printing press and the dissemination of Italian Humanism. Aimed atstudents and scholars of medieval and early modern Iberia - and anyone interested in medieval Romance literatures and the classical tradition - this volume also provides a concise introduction to the medieval Crown of Aragon, a catalogue of translations into Catalan of texts from classical antiquity through the Italian Renaissance, and a critical study of the influence of the classics in five major works: Bernat Metge's Lo somni, Joanot Martorell'sTirant lo Blanc, the anonymous Curial e Güelfa, Ausiàs March's poetry, and Joan Roís de Corella's prose. Lluís Cabré is associate professor of medieval Catalan literature at the Universitat Autònoma dercelona; Alejandro Coroleu is ICREA research professor of Renaissance Humanism at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; Montserrat Ferrer is a research associate at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; Albert Lloret is associate professor of Spanish and Catalan at the University of Massachusetts Amherst; Josep Pujol is associate professor of medieval Catalan literature at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

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